


Courting a Challenge

by TiffanyF



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-06
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-28 09:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/672763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffanyF/pseuds/TiffanyF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Rikkai fic exchange on livejournal. There's a challenge for Rikkai's crown on their home courts. Yukimura isn't happy. Neither is Niou. Don't own, don't claim, no money made here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Courting a Challenge

There were two things Niou Masaharu loved; tennis and pranks. Some would say that it was pranks and tennis, but those were the people who didn’t know him. Pranks were a hobby to keep his mind sharp, tennis was his life. Luckily for him, he was able to find a team who felt the same way and he quickly joined in their ambition to dominate the junior high tennis world for three years. He was both amazed and amused by the others in his year, and found Kirihara Akaya to be as much like a younger brother as anyone could be, and treated him appropriately. By picking on him as much as he could, of course. No one ever said that Niou was nice. He cared about his team, but the way he showed affection to anyone was with pranks and mild verbal abuse. It was just his way and the team seemed to realize this, even if they didn’t like it. 

The tennis courts at Rikkai Dai Fuzoku were the domain of the Three Demons, led by Yukimura Seiichi. He would stand, god-like, at the edge of the courts and just watch practice, his very influence keeping his players in line and on task. And, if they failed, there was always the wrath of the fukubuchou, Sanada Genichiro and his suicide slap of doom to get people back in line. It was a rare day that for at least part of practice that Sanada wasn’t stalking around the courts snapping at people to get them to work harder or focus more. Then there was the third demon, Yanagi Renji, who would just stay in the background and watch everyone. No one ever seemed to realize that he was the most dangerous of all, because once he had your data your number was up. Yukimura relied on Yanagi to keep the team supplied with information on their various opponents, a job that Yanagi loved and took to with a passion that was countered only by his love of the game.

On a team as large as Rikkai it would seem that the eight coveted starter positions would be in constant upheaval and change as players challenged for them. It was true for a couple of positions, at least until word got around that the eight regulars who currently held the positions were knows as the Child of God, the Emperor, the Master, the Gentleman, the Petenshi, the Genius, the Rock Wall, and the baby devil. In most cases the nicknames were enough to keep potential challengers away, but every so often students transfered in and seemed to think that they would be able to take over the tennis team. 

Those were the kind of people the team liked the best. 

Afternoon practice was a favorite for Niou. He had study hall for his last class of the day and he was usually able to leave early because he always had his homework done before he got to the study area and the teachers knew he was in the top ten percent of his class. Just because he was a Petenshi didn’t mean he wasn’t smart. He just liked to fool everyone with his appearance and attitude at school. It meant people would leave him alone, which he really liked because it gave him time to do his school work at school and plan out his pranks, which was really fun because he could put them into play that much faster. 

As he was walking towards the tennis courts one afternoon planning to hit some balls against the wall before the rest of the team showed up, he overheard a conversation between two boys he’d never seen before, but were wearing Rikkai uniforms. It was pretty obvious that they were recent transfer students who didn’t know a thing about the tennis team at Rikkai. He smirked to himself and slipped past and into the clubhouse to change into his tennis uniform. Niou thought it would be a good idea to stay hidden for a while, and to let the demons know what was going on. It looked like afternoon practice was going to be a lot more fun than they had been expecting.  
***********************

Sanada frowned when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. There was only one person who would dare text him during class and that was Niou. The Petenshi had a disregard for the rules that frustrated Sanada to no end. But he slipped his phone out and took a look at the text. **New students ditzing Rikkai’s regulars. Think they want a challenge this afternoon. Should we play with them?**

“Tarundoru,” Sanada muttered under his breath, noting that the text had gone to all the demons. He would wait and see what Yukimura wanted to do about these upstarts Niou had found.

The second text didn’t take long. **Get out of class however you can and meet in the clubhouse** Yukimura ordered. *We will show these upstarts who rules Rikkai*

Sanada sighed and tucked his phone away, wishing he was able to wear his hat in the classroom so he could pull it down over his eyes while he thought. If it had been anyone but Yukimura who asked and for anything other than tennis, he wouldn’t think of trying to leave class early. But an order was an order and he had to do it, no matter what he thought of it personally. “Sensei, may I be excused, please?” he asked raising his hand. “There’s an emergency at the tennis courts and Yukimura needs my help.”

The teacher sighed and closed the book he’d been reading from on his finger. “This is becoming a habit, Sanada-kun,” he said. “Go on, but I expect your paper to be perfect.”

“Understood,” Sanada replied. He stood and bowed. “Thank you very much, Sensei.”

He bumped into Yanagi in the hallway. “This should be interesting,” he said with a small sigh as he settled his hat onto his head. “What do you think is going on?”

“I have no data yet, Genichiro,” Yanagi replied. “However,” he held out a hand and caught Akaya’s collar as the younger boy ran past, “this should be interesting. I think that Seiichi is looking to regain some of our power today with this match.”

“Akaya, no running in the halls,” Sanada barked. “You know better than that.”

“I’m just excited, Sanada fukubuchou,” Akaya replied with a wild grin. “Who do we get to destroy?”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Yanagi said handing Akaya over to Jackal with a relieved sigh. He loved the kid like a younger brother, but there were days when he was happy to let one of the other babysitters deal with him. “Niou didn’t tell us anything about the students in the text he sent.”

“A match is a match,” Akaya grinned and went running off with Jackal following him as quickly as he could. 

Sanada glanced at Yanagi and shrugged. The pair made their way towards the court at a more sedate pace, slipping into the clubhouse and shutting the door behind them. “Where’s Yagyuu?”

Yukimura looked up from tying his shoes. “He’s sitting an exam and will be here as soon as he can. Renji, see if you can get a look at these upstarts without them seeing you while the rest of us warm up.”

Marui pulled a box out of his locker and started to eat his cake. Sanada sat down next to Yukimura. “How are we going to field two doubles teams without Yagyuu?”

“You can play with Niou,” Yukimura said with a soft, gentle smile.

If Yanagi had been in the room, even he would have been hard-pressed to say who looked more shocked at the suggestion, Niou or Sanada. They could play together and win, but it was a pairing that the team usually tried to avoid unless it was a desperate time and none of them had thought it had come to that point. “Seiichi?” Sanada choked out over Niou’s chuckles. 

“Genichiro, it’s a pairing that no one outside our team has seen and they won’t know how to defend against it,” Yukimura said. “Just be careful not to hit Niou with ka again. I don’t want him passed out on the court.”

“Ne, buchou, what if I can make it look like he hit me and play on it to get a point?” Niou asked with a smirk.

“You both have free reign on the court,” Yukimura smiled. “Just try not to damage them permanently. I wouldn’t want to have to explain that again. That goes for all of you, by the way. Line-up; Marui and Jackal in doubles two, Niou and Sanada in doubles one, Akaya, Yanagi and myself in singles. If Yagyuu gets here in time, he might play, but for now, this is how we go out there to win.”

“Of course,” everyone chorused falling into step behind Yukimura as they left the clubhouse for the tennis courts.

The strange boys had taken over two of the courts and were playing matches when the Rikkai regulars arrived. Yukimura stopped at the foot of the stairs and crossed his arms over his chest, jacket fluttering in the soft breeze that blew in from their left. His regulars spread out behind him and stared at the strangers. 

It didn’t take long for the laser stares to register with the boys on the courts and they stopped their games to turn and see where the gaze was coming from. “Hou, look who finally showed up,” the leader said with a sneer. “The displaced kings looking for their crown.”

“From Hyotei,” Yanagi said. “All members that Atobe kicked out for violence and unnecessary conduct on the tennis courts. I believe that you were told never to show your faces around a junior high tennis court again.”

“It seems to us that these courts are open for the taking because you lost them,” the leader said.

A small smile flittered across Yukimura’s face. He tilted his head to the side and studied the boy in front of him. “Renji, exactly what did they do to make Keigo kick them off the team?” he asked softly.

“I believe I told you about it at the time, Seiichi,” Yanagi replied. “The ones who tried to put Shishido and Ootori in the hospital?”

“Oh yes, I do remember that,” Yukimura said. “Rocks were involved as I recall. And now they think they’ll take over our tennis courts and make them their own. The Rikkai courts are the place of winners, and no one who hits rocks at their own team mates counts as a winner. You will leave, now.”

“You’re not winners either, you lost to Seigaku in the Nationals, so they don’t belong to you either.”

“It seems we have different definitions of what creates a winner,” Yukimura said, still smiling. If the rouges from Hyotei had been smarter, they would have realized it was the same smile a Great White shark wears just before striking for the kill. “We will play you and, when we win, you will leave our courts and school. If I ever see you near a tennis court again, regardless of what school or grade, I will find a way to have you arrested and prosecuted for your crimes. Do you understand?”

“Sure, but we’ll win and when we do, you have to admit that you’re all frauds and that you cheated to get as far as you did for two years.”  
Yukimura’s hand caught Sanada’s arm as the larger boy moved forward. “Not now, Genichiro,” he said softly. He looked at the rogues. “Do you have enough boys to field a full team or do we have to modify ours?”

“We can only play one doubles round.”

“Marui, Jackal, you’ll sit out then,” Yukimura said. “Everyone else, you know the line up. Let’s play.”

Sanada and Niou shrugged out of their starter jackets and picked up their rackets, making their way to the court. They could see the surprise in the eyes of their opponents and something that looked like derision. “You can serve,” Sanada said tossing a ball over the net. “Niou.”

“Ready when you are,” Niou grinned taking up his place closer to the net. Not even Sanada was crazy enough to remove the Petenshi from the place where he could gather up the data and weaknesses of their opponents. The boys across the net looked at each other, shrugged and got into position. The taller of the two took the service position. He had on a blue t-shirt and black shorts, black hair that fell to the collar of his shirt and glasses. The one closer to Niou was in a green tank top, jeans and had short blond hair. 

The ball flew over the net and Niou returned it swiftly, knowing that the boys would know enough about them to know that he normally used the first game to gather weaknesses and wanted to put them off the scent a little. He smirked as a chance ball went back towards Sanada who returned it perfectly earning them the first point. The next two balls went the same way and Niou, who’s sharp eyes had been focused on both boys, noticed something. He let the next three balls go and, to his credit, Sanada followed his lead perfectly. Niou returned the next ball into the net, letting the first game go to the other team.

“What did you see, Niou?” Sanada whispered as they changed courts. 

“They’re trying to get data on us too,” Niou whispered in reply. “Don’t use anything major until you absolutely have to, Sanada. These are weak but sneaky players who will do anything they can to win. The guy in blue has rocks in his pockets and I think they’ll be hit at us in two games, if not three.”

“What can you do about that?”

Niou smirked and twirled his racket. “Leave it to me, Sanada. They won’t be able to hit you. I promise.”

Sanada nodded and palmed a ball. He settled onto the service line and bounced the ball a few times while Niou got into position. Sanada normally played doubles with Yagyuu or Yanagi, but there was a charge to playing with Niou that didn’t come from anyone else. One that was addicting and he had to work not to get caught up in the Petenshi’s flow. The court belonged to the Petenshi whenever he was on it, all the Rikkai players knew that and knew how to work around it, but it was harder for Sanada than anyone else.   
Niou was mad. Not only had these boys who were kicked off of a team for violence come to his home court and insulted his team and their honor - all kings lost at some point and they were stronger for it - but they brought weapons with them that were a threat to anyone who was going to be playing them. The anger turned into a gleam in his eyes and a sharpness that allowed him to get to any ball he wanted. It was a talent that he didn’t use often because it wore him out and he would be asleep for a couple of days afterwards, but for this he knew he had to pull out every trick he had, no matter how much it upset Yukimura in the long run. Only Yagyuu knew about the new moves Niou had been working on, and even the Gentleman didn’t know everything.

Yukimura stood in his normal place, arms folded over his chest and watched the match closely. He could see that there was something bothering Niou and wanted to know what it was. But he knew he couldn’t call an end to the match no matter how much he wanted to because it would break the concentration of both his players, and that’s what he needed then. Yukimura didn’t doubt that they would win. He could tell that the flow of the match had turned towards the Petenshi and Emperor, but he wanted to see where the new limits for both his players was.

“I would cover your eyes for a moment, Yukimura-kun,” Yagyuu said softly in his ear. “This new move is rather stunning.”

“Everyone,” Yukimura called.

The Rikkai team as one covered their eyes just before Niou hit the ball. “Meteor Drive,” he said in a voice not unlike the ice king. 

Yukimura risked peeking through his fingers and saw the ball scream up into the air, sparks flying behind it. The two boys on the other side of the court watched it go up and then looked across the net. “What good is that if it doesn’t hit the court?” the taller of the two called.

“Puri,” Niou smirked.

The tennis ball slammed into the court between the two boys, knocking them both off their feet with a blast that made Yukimura cover his eyes again. When the noise died down he dared to look and smiled. There was no damage to the court, other than the boys lying with their heads covered. Yagyuu cleared his throat. “He’s still working on that one, Yukimura-kun,” he said. “It’s not perfected yet.”

“I look forward to seeing it when it is,” Yukimura said with a soft smile. 

“Do you forfeit?” Sanada asked scowling at the boys who were still lying on the other side of the court.

“Of course not,” they snarled standing up and taking their places again. 

Niou went over to Sanada. “This is going to get dangerous, Sanada. Listen to my calls and I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“Okay,” Sanada agreed. He wasn’t afraid of the danger, but he didn’t want to get hit with a rock while playing tennis. He took up his position and served cleanly, earning the win with a service ace. The game count was four to one in Rikkai’s favor and everyone could feel the increasing tension in the air.

Niou’s sharp eyes were watching the movements from both players, darting back and forth quickly and that was the only reason he saw the closer player pull out a sharp rock. “Sanada, special technique three,” he called as the tennis ball and rock flew over the net at the same time.  
Sanada moved without thinking about it, unleashing ka on the tennis ball, sending it screaming back towards the other team. At the same time, Niou moved quickly and cast an illusion, hitting the rock off the court and landing in a heap near the net. 

“Niou,” Yukimura called sharply.

Yagyuu’s hand fell on Yukimura’s shoulder. “It’s an illusion,” he whispered. “Watch.”

Sanada’s focus was still on the tennis ball that had been returned. He used rin and hit it back, thinking to score the point. The taller of the two boys hit the ball directly at Niou’s still form on the court and Sanada realized there was no way to get to him in time. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try.

“Stop, Sanada,” Yukimura called sharply.

Niou appeared out of nowhere, his form vanishing as he hit both the ball and new rock back at the player who had aimed at him, knocking him down. “That’s our game,” he said softly. “Get up and finish the match. You’re not hurt badly. I would never aim for anything vital.”

“How did you do that, Niou?” Sanada asked while they waited for a bandage to be applied.

“An artist never reveals his tricks,” Niou replied. “But those rocks are sharper than I thought, Sanada. I can end this in four balls if you’ll trust me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Try out a new illusion. I need you to stand behind me no matter what though,” Niou said. “Otherwise you’ll be caught in it and then we could lose and this will go on longer than I want it to.”

Sanada eyed him for a moment trying to work out exactly what he was going to do and finally shrugged. “If you foul this up, Niou, you’ll be running laps for the next weeks,” he said.

“Works for me,” Niou smirked. “When we win, I want to be able to hide behind you though.”

“Why?”

“Because Yukimura is going to be livid when he sees this illusion,” Niou muttered.

Wondering exactly what he’d gotten himself into, Sanada took his place to serve, watching Niou closely. At the nod, he served and then gasped as silver hair became blue held with a teal headband. Niou had cast the illusion of Yukimura and with a start, Sanada realized that the boys on the other side of the net had lost their ability to see and hear, just as they would have it they’d been playing against the Child of God.

Three serves later, their opponents were on the ground crying and Niou and Sanada walked off the court without a word towards their team. Yukimura’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the perfect copy of himself. “And when were you going to tell me about this particular illusion, Niou?” he asked.

“Never,” Niou said. “It takes too much energy to maintain.”

Yagyuu caught his doubles partner as the illusion melted away and Niou fainted. “He’s never held it this long before,” he said. “I don’t think he’ll be awake for the next few days, if not a week, Yukimura-kun. He was never going to tell you because he was hoping to never have to use it on the court. But with how those boys were playing, he must have felt he didn’t have a choice. And look, he was hit with that first rock too.”

Jackal hurried over with the first aid kit and started to wrap Niou’s arm. Sanada pulled down on his hat. “That rock was aimed at me, Seiichi,” he said. “Niou played the match to keep me safe as well as win. When did he get so nice?”

“He’s always been nice, Sanada-kun,” Yagyuu said with a small smile. “He just doesn’t let people know about it. Please don’t ruin his reputation with this information.”

Sanada nodded and turned towards the court. “Yukimura.”

The court was empty. Yukimura sighed, his jacket fluttering gently in the wind. “I was so looking forward to a good game today,” he said. “I suppose I’ll just have to wait. Maybe I’ll call on Keigo and let him know what some of his former team has been up to. The other schools should be notified as well. They’re not nearly as good as we are, after all.”

“I’ll call Sadaharu,” Yanagi said. “He’ll get the word out down in Tokyo for us.”

Yukimura nodded. “Then let’s take Niou home and Yagyuu can stay with him for the rest of the day.”

Sanada cleared his throat. “I’d like to do it, Yukimura,” he said. “I owe Niou a great debt and I’d like to start repaying it.”

Yukimura smiled. “Of course, Genichiro,” he said. “Just don’t let Niou know that you owe him or we’ll have no end of trouble with the Petenshi.”

“Puri,” Yagyuu whispered as he helped pick Niou up. The Petenshi had shown his team a new side of him, one that cared deeply for his friends, and he knew it was one that they wouldn’t forget any time soon.


End file.
